Geithner-Obama Downgrade

The talking points have gone out, and the DNC are on the attack. Fearing that they will see even further blow back from S&P’s decision to downgrade America’s credit rating (first time in American history), the DNC has now instructed their people to begin calling the down grade the “Tea Party Downgrade”. This is evidenced in the White House, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and others using the same verbiage over the weekend to try to put the onus squarely on the Tea Party and their representatives in Congress. This blind accusation forgets the role the DNC played in the whole debt ceiling debate, and completely ignores that the only party to actually put forth multiple plans that would have satisfied the credit rating bureaus’ anxieties was the GOP and the Tea Party members within the GOP.

David Axelrod - Democratic Strategist

Three times the GOP sought to ease America’s debt through legislation in the House, but every time those solutions were met with veto threats from the White House, and procedural cowardice in the Senate. First, after the Senate overwhelmingly voted down President Obama’s budget 97-0, the GOP and Tea Party controlled House passed a budget that would have cut spending by $6T, but such a budget never received a vote in the Democrat controlled Senate. Second, the GOP and Tea Party controlled House passed the “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill, which would have satisfied the credit bureaus’ requests while also cutting the budget by $4T and requiring a balanced budget amendment; however, President Obama threatened a veto, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tabled the measure, thus, not allowing a vote. As a result, we were lead to the drama of the last few weeks where one negotiation after another failed, because President Obama at first refused to negotiate, then joined the negotiations only to back out of his own deal, and then forced the final attempt at trying to prevent default and downgrade. This final attempt led to a bill that neither party could really stomach, but had to be passed or the Untied States faced assured default and downgrade.

During this last year the President has been absent, or at least aloof, when it has come to the important decisions this country had to make. In 2010, the American people rejected President Obama’s policies, and his response was that he did not do a good enough job articulating his message. This administration has demonstrated that it has no understanding of reality. During the debt ceiling debate, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proclaimed that the United States’ credit was never going to be downgraded. If this was the message that the White House was giving to its people, and the Democrats in Congress, it is no wonder they felt they could resist the GOP and Tea Party with impunity. However, Secretary Geithner, and the President took a huge gamble with America’s future by making such proclamations, and if they truly believed it, then everyone should question both Secretary Geithner’s and President Obama’s judgment when it comes to making important decisions regarding the economy.

As such, this downgrade should not be labeled the “Tea Party Downgrade”, since the Tea Partiers seem to be the only people in Washington who took the S&P and other credit bureaus at their word, but the blame (if it should be pointed at anyone) should rest squarely on the shoulders of those who should have known better. Therefore, it should be known as the “Geihtner-Obama Downgrade”, since it was their reassurance to members of the media and the members of their own party that led to the arrogance demonstrated by those in the DNC and the left who did not accept what needed to be done to prevent the downgrade.